Tuija Brax (green), the Finnish justice minister, told commercial broadcaster MTV3 on Wednesday that the government saw Parliament passing into law a bill on the voluntary chemical castration of paedophiles before next spring's general election.

The minister said that testosterone suppressant treatment would be offered as an alternative to surveilled probationary release.

She added that the law would apply to a very small group of convicted paedophiles.

A justice ministry working group had proposed the adoption of chemical castration, something that has been used in Denmark for two decades.

STT